Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) Final Rule
Originally published 80 Fed. Reg. 37,054 (June 29, 2015).

The WOTUS Final Rule had been stayed by U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Executive Order 13778, issued February 28, 2017, 82 Fed. Reg. 12,497 (March 3, 2017), directed the EPA to review the current WOTUS rule and to interpret the statutory term “navigable waters” consistent with the opinion of Justice Scalia in the Rapanos case. In that case, Justice Scalia urged the application to “relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water.”

Stream Protection Rule under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)

The Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining issued the final Stream Protection Rule after years of litigation and regulatory controversy. 81 Fed. Reg. 93,066 (Dec. 20, 2016). On February 16, 2017, President Trump signed a Congressional Joint Resolution adopted under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove and invalidate the rule.

Executive Order Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth

Executive Order 13783, issued March 28, 2017, 82 Fed. Reg. 16,093 (March 31, 2017), issued several directives related to energy development and energy use. Among the many components, this order directed agencies to review all rules and remove burdens on use of domestic energy; directed EPA to review the Clean Power Plan; rescinded previous Executive Orders, Reports, and Guidance issued by the Obama administration on climate change and greenhouse gases; directed the Secretary of the Interior to lift moratorium on leasing federal lands for coal production and to review, suspend, revise, or rescind various rules relating to oil & gas production.

HB 50 amended KRS Chapter 13A to make administrative regulations expire unless the applicable administrative body acts to prevent expiration. Regulations with effective date prior to July 1, 2012, will expire July 1, 2019. Regulations with effective dates after July 1, 2012, will expire seven years after the last effective date.

SB 11 provided a pathway for future development of nuclear power facilities by removing certain statutory limitations that, when fully implemented, prohibited development of nuclear facilities in Kentucky.

SB 248 amends the definition of naturally-occurring radioactive material (NORM), adds a definition of technologically-enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material (TENORM), and exempts from TENORM regulation the drill cuttings from wells. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services is responsible for regulation of TENORM.

SB 249 was an omnibus bill that made numerous changes in the structure and function of the Energy and Environment Cabinet. SB 249’s impacts included eliminating the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission and the Kentucky Mining Board, and exempts individual home owners from obtaining operator certification for operating a single-residence wastewater system.